Anaesthetic technician to respiratory therapy technician
An anaesthetic technician already meets 40% of what the respiratory therapy technician role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
61.6/ 100
1 How much of what a respiratory therapy technician is expected to do is already part of an anaesthetic technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the respiratory therapy technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A respiratory therapy technician role treats 7 of its required skills as things an anaesthetic technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- communicate in healthcare
- comply with legislation related to health care
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- ensure safety of healthcare users
- human anatomy
- medical terminology
What stands in the way is 10 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 12 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A respiratory therapy technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an anaesthetic technician background worth leading with.
- already held emergency surgery health and welfare
- already held surgery health and welfare
- already held medical informatics health and welfare
- already held medical terminology health and welfare
- already held manage healthcare users' data information skills
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice assisting and caring
All 12 carried skills, including the 7 the respiratory therapy technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn clinical perfusion required
- still to learn respiratory medicine required
- still to learn respiratory therapy required
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- still to learn carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures required
- still to learn contribute to continuity of health care required
- still to learn operate breathing equipment required
- still to learn operate heart-lung machines required
- still to learn apply context specific clinical competences required
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held provide pre-treatment information optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a respiratory therapy technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply context specific clinical competences practise this
- 02 carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures practise this
- 03 clinical perfusion study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 12 skills that carry over
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held human anatomy knowledge
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held emergency surgery knowledge
- already held first aid knowledge
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- already held medical informatics knowledge
- already held surgery knowledge
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held conduct polysomnography optional
- optional, not held interpret medical images optional
- optional, not held respond to changing situations in health care optional
- optional, not held use e-health and mobile health technologies optional
9 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held conduct polysomnography optional
- optional, not held interpret medical images optional
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held provide pre-treatment information optional
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held use e-health and mobile health technologies optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- optional, not held respond to changing situations in health care optional
46 held skills the respiratory therapy technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role administer anaesthetics to patients skill
- not needed by the target role anaesthetics knowledge
- not needed by the target role arrange surgery operating site skill
- not needed by the target role assess patients after surgery skill
- not needed by the target role assist in epilepsy surgery skill
- not needed by the target role assist with hemostasis skill
- not needed by the target role biophysics knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct preoperative investigations skill
- not needed by the target role deal with emergency care situations skill
- not needed by the target role demonstrate technical skills during neurological surgery skill
- not needed by the target role dispose medical waste skill
- not needed by the target role emergency medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role endoscopy knowledge
- not needed by the target role ensure the positioning of the patient for surgery skill
- not needed by the target role human physiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role infection control knowledge
- not needed by the target role instruct on allergic reactions to anaesthetics skill
- not needed by the target role intensive care medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain anaesthetic machinery skill
- not needed by the target role manage acute pain skill
- not needed by the target role manage adverse reactions to anaesthesia skill
- not needed by the target role manage infection control in the facility skill
- not needed by the target role manage trauma through surgical means skill
- not needed by the target role monitor basic patients signs skill
- not needed by the target role monitor patients during surgery skill
- not needed by the target role monitor stock level skill
- not needed by the target role order supplies for anaesthesia services skill
- not needed by the target role perform bronchoscopy skill
- not needed by the target role perform eye surgery skill
- not needed by the target role perform reconstructive microsurgery skill
- not needed by the target role perform vascular surgery therapeutic procedures skill
- not needed by the target role perform venepuncture procedures skill
- not needed by the target role pharmacology knowledge
- not needed by the target role positions for surgical procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role professional documentation in health care knowledge
- not needed by the target role radiation protection knowledge
- not needed by the target role resuscitation knowledge
- not needed by the target role spine surgery knowledge
- not needed by the target role sterilization techniques knowledge
6 further entries not listed here
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn clinical perfusion required
- still to learn respiratory medicine required
- still to learn respiratory therapy required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
Common questions about this move
Can an anaesthetic technician become a respiratory therapy technician?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An anaesthetic technician already covers 40% of what a respiratory therapy technician is expected to do: 12 skills carry over, 7 of which the respiratory therapy technician role treats as required.
What skills does an anaesthetic technician need to become a respiratory therapy technician?
10 required skills are missing, plus 9 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by health and welfare. The single most important is apply context specific clinical competences.
How hard is the move from anaesthetic technician to respiratory therapy technician?
Its learning distance is 61.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.